Ethics in the digital workplace
Digitisation and automation technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI), can affect working conditions in a variety of ways and their use in the workplace raises a host of new ethical concerns.
As announced on 19 June 2020, the US-owned firm Honeywell, will close its plant in Schönaich, near Stuttgart, by 2022 which will result in 160 redundancies. According to a Honeywell spokesperson, production will be relocated to other plants (without mentioning of exact locations), which consequently will result in the closure of the Schönaich plant, which specialises in the production of air conditioning technology.
In 2009 and 2018 Honeywell cut 150 and 45 jobs. IG Metall expects that only a small proportion of employees has the chance to work at other locations since most employees are 50 years or older and have been in the company for 30 years.
Eurofound (2020), Honeywell, Closure in Germany, factsheet number 101179, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/101179.